Once Upon a Wedding / Accidental Princess: Once Upon a Wedding / Accidental Princess

“Thank you, Connor,” she said softly.

“How’d you two meet anyway? I don’t think you’ve said.”

“At a department store.” She smiled. “We were both shopping for Christmas presents for our mothers, but he didn’t have a clue. Finally he asked me for help. It was really cute.”

“Hmm. Almost as cute as when we met.”

“Oh, you mean in that sleazy bar where you had to fight off those bikers who were hitting on me?”

“A bar you weren’t old enough to be at in the first place,” Connor pointed out.

“Luckily you were there to rescue me,” she said, lifting her glass in a teasing toast.

“Yeah, lucky,” Connor agreed as he tapped his own glass against hers.

Emily might not know it, but he was here to save her again.

The tiny butterflies taking flight in Kelsey’s stomach as she drove toward the hotel turned into radioactive monsters by the time she stepped into the lobby. She’d been crazy to make a deal with Connor McClane. Somewhere along the way she was going to lose her soul.

Although they hadn’t made plans to meet this morning, the best way to keep an eye on Connor was to embrace their partnership. As she walked by the three-tiered fountain toward the elevators, the doors slid open. Kelsey gasped and ducked into an alcove—the same alcove to which Connor had pulled her aside the day before—and watched in disbelief as her cousin walked by.

What was Emily doing at Connor’s hotel?

Her cousin rarely left the house before noon, and it was barely nine o’clock. What was Emily doing up so early? Or had she stayed out too late? Kelsey’s stomach churned at the thought. She hated to think her cousin would be so susceptible to Connor’s charms. And what about you? her conscience mocked. How easily did you agree to work with Connor in this very spot?

But that was different! That was about business and keeping an eye on Connor and keeping him away from Emily…not that Kelsey had done a bang-up job at either so far.

Emily slipped on a pair of sunglasses and smiled at a bellboy, who nearly tripped over his feet as she walked by. She didn’t look as if she’d rolled out of bed with her ex-lover, but then again, Kelsey had never seen Emily look less than perfect. Ever.

Kelsey stayed hidden as her cousin sashayed across the lobby and out the automatic doors, then made a beeline for the elevator. “So much for his promises,” she muttered as she jabbed the Up button.

“But why am I even surprised?”

She stomped out of the elevator on the fourth floor. Had she really believed Connor would keep his word?

Maybe she had. Which only went to prove how some people never learned. Rapping on Connor’s door hard enough to bruise her knuckles, she thought she’d be better off banging her head against the wood.

“Kelsey.” Opening the door, Connor greeted her with an assessing look and not an ounce of shame. Bracing one arm on the doorjamb, he said, “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Are you?” Determined to ignore the masculine pose that could have come straight from some sexy man-of-the-month calendar, she ducked beneath his arm and made her way inside. She refused to have an argument in the hall where any guest, bellhop or room-service waiter might walk by. “If I’d shown up a few minutes earlier, it would have been a regular family reunion.”

“You saw Emily?”

“So much for your promise to keep your distance!”

Connor frowned. “I said I’d stay away. I can’t help it if she comes to see me.”

“Right. And I’m sure she forced her way inside your hotel room. Probably tied you up and had her way with you, too.”

Connor pushed away from the door and stalked toward her with that challenging expression still in his eyes. “That would really mess up your plans, wouldn’t it?”

“She’s engaged, Connor. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Yeah. It means she’s about to make a mistake.”

Connor stepped closer, and the only mistake Kelsey could concentrate on was her own in thinking she could confront Connor face-to-face and not be overwhelmed by his masculine sensuality. He hadn’t shaved and the morning stubble only made him that much more appealing. Worse, she could practically feel the erotic scrape of whisker-rough skin against her cheeks, her neck, her breasts—

Afraid he could read her every thought by the glow in her cheeks, Kelsey ducked her head. Her gaze landed on the nearby breakfast tray, on a white coffee cup and a pink bow-shaped smudge left by Emily’s lipstick. The mark may have been left on Connor’s cup, not on the man himself, but the reminder that Emily had been there first doused Kelsey like a bucket of ice water. “Emily’s only mistake was inviting you.”

“Yeah, I bet that’s tough on you, isn’t it? When you told me yesterday working together would be strictly business, I didn’t realize that meant you were getting paid.”

“So I’m coordinating Emily’s wedding. Don’t act all offended like it was some big secret. I thought you already knew.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t. If I had—”

“You would have what?”

Scowling at her, he said, “Look, if you want to work together, I need to know you care more about your cousin than you do about your business.”

If she wanted to work together! Just yesterday, she thought agreeing to work with Connor was possibly the most foolish thing she’d ever done. And now she had to fight to keep the opportunity?

Yes! a voice inside her head argued. Because it’s the only one you’ll get. How else will you keep an eye on him? How else will you keep him from stopping the wedding?

“Of course I care about Emily.”

A sardonic twist of a smile lifted one corner of Connor’s mouth. Darn him for making even sarcasm look sexy! “I know you care about her. The question is, do you care enough to put her first over everything else you want?”

The intensity in his eyes transformed the question from a challenge about her loyalty to Emily into something more personal. Something dark and revealing about his past. Prove that you care…

It was a test Emily had failed. She hadn’t cared enough, or she’d cared about her family’s approval more. Was Emily the only woman who hadn’t passed, Kelsey wondered, or were there other women who hadn’t given Connor the proof he needed?

“You can’t prove you care about someone,” she stated flatly. “Not in words. Actions show how you truly feel.”

Like Connor showing up for Emily’s wedding…and Emily showing up at Connor’s hotel room. Trying not to think what those actions meant, Kelsey continued, “I’m here. That alone should prove—”

“That you’re a clever businesswoman? I already knew that.”

Tightening her grip on her purse strap, Kelsey fought for control. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t have a lot riding on Emily’s wedding.

As she racked her brain for a way to prove her loyalty, Kelsey realized nothing she said would be enough. Meeting his gaze, she stated, “I can’t prove it to you, Connor. Because love and caring aren’t about proof. They’re about faith. So, if I’m supposed to trust your gut when you tell me Todd isn’t right for Emily, you’re going to have to trust me when I tell you Emily’s happiness matters most.”

With his gaze locked on hers, Connor stayed silent long enough for Kelsey to anticipate half a dozen responses. Would he laugh in her face? Turn away in cynical disgust?

Seconds ticked by, and she held her ground by pulling off a decent imitation of her aunt. She kept her back straight, her head held high, and still managed to look down her nose at a much taller Connor.

He ruined the hard-won effect with a single touch, tracing a finger over her cheek. The steel in her spine melted into a puddle of desire.

“Good to have you back on the team,” he said softly. “We have work to do.”

Connor knew he’d crossed the line when Kelsey’s eyes widened to a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. He needed to back off. If he pushed, she’d bolt. But it was the urge to ignore his own boundaries that had him pulling back even further.

If anyone could make him want to trust again, Kelsey might. And that sure as hell wasn’t the kind of thought a man wanted to have while sober. Especially not a man like him about a woman like her.

Kelsey was a Wilson, and he’d already learned his lesson when it came to how Wilson-McClane relationships ended. He knew better than to make the same mistake twice…Didn’t he? Just because he’d indulged in a minor fantasy—discovering the five freckles on Kelsey’s cheek did combine to make a perfect star—didn’t mean he was losing his grip on the situation. He had everything under control, even if that starshaped outline made him wonder what other patterns he might find on Kelsey’s body…

Far too aware of the bed only a few feet away and Kelsey’s teasing scent, that alluring combination of cinnamon and spice, Connor redirected his focus. “Are you hungry? I could order more room service.”

“No, thank you.” Her words were too polite, bordering on stiff, and they matched her posture.

“All right,” he said, thinking it just as well they get out of the hotel room before he ended up doing something as stupid as touching Kelsey…and not stopping. “But you really don’t want to go on a stakeout on an empty stomach.” Connor didn’t know if his sudden announcement loosened anything, but Kelsey definitely looked shaken.

“Stakeout?” Echoing the word, her brown eyes widened.

“Don’t worry. We’ll stop for staples along the way.” He grabbed her hand, pulled her from the room and out into the hall.

She protested every step of the way and all throughout the elevator ride down to the lobby. “Are you insane? I am not going on a stakeout.”

Her voice dropped to a hiss as the elevator door opened, and she even managed a smile at the elderly couple waiting in the lobby.

“You agreed to this, remember? Equal partners?”

As he strode across the lobby, Connor realized Kelsey was practically running to keep up with his long strides, and he slowed his steps.

Jeez, it’d be faster if he picked her up and carried her. A corner of his mouth lifted at the thought of Kelsey’s reaction if he tried. “You really are tiny, aren’t you?”

“I—What?”

She bumped into him when Connor paused for the automatic doors to open. He had the quick impression of soft breasts against his back before Kelsey jumped away.

Tiny, he decided as he looked over his shoulder with an appreciative glance, but curved in all the right places.

Something in his expression must have given his thoughts away. Kelsey glared at him. “I am not going on a stakeout.”

“How are we going to find anything out about Todd if we don’t watch him?”

“I thought you’d hire someone!”

“Right. Because the Wilsons would believe whatever some guy I paid has to say about their golden boy.”

Score one for the away team, Connor thought, when Kelsey stopped arguing. Pressing his advantage, he guided her outside. “Besides,” he added, “staking people out is what I do.”

“You—you’re a cop?”

He couldn’t blame her for the shock in her voice and gave a scoffing laugh. “No. I’m a private investigator. Turns out we’re both professionals,” he said. “And if it makes you feel any better, I do have a friend working another lead. But he’s in St. Louis.”

“What’s in St. Louis?”

“A maid who used to work for the Dunworthy family. She either quit or was let go a few months ago.”

“So?”

“She pretty much disappeared after that, and I want to hear what she has to say about her former employers.”

Midmorning sunlight glinted off the line of luxury cars brought around by the valets: Lexus, BMW, Mercedes. He’d come a long way from his bike days. Too bad. He would have enjoyed getting Kelsey on a Harley. Once she loosened up a bit, she’d love the freedom of hugging the curves, wind whipping through her hair, speed pouring through her veins. He could almost feel her arms around his waist…

Kelsey waved toward the visitor’s lot. “We can take my car.”

It didn’t look like loosening up would happen anytime soon. “Sorry, sweetheart, but I’ll bet Dunworthy has already seen your car.”

Connor signaled a valet, and within minutes a vintage black Mustang pulled up to the curb. Seeing the question in Kelsey’s eyes, he explained, “It’s Javy’s. Something less flashy would be better for surveillance, but borrowers can’t be choosers.”

He tipped the valet and opened the passenger door for Kelsey. When she looked ready to argue, he said, “Todd has a big meeting at his office.” He’d looked up the address after Emily left. “I’m curious to find out who it’s with. How ’bout

you?”

As she slid into the passenger seat, Kelsey muttered something he couldn’t quite make out.

Connor figured it was just as well.

“I cannot believe I’m doing this,” Kelsey muttered from her slumped-down position in the passenger seat.

“You’ve mentioned that,” Connor replied.

They were parked in a lot across the street from Todd’s office. The row of two-story suites lined a busy side street off Scottsdale Road, the black glass and concrete a sharp contrast to the gold and russet rock landscape, with its clusters of purple sage, flowering bougainvillea and cacti. Connor had circled the building when they first arrived, noting all the building’s entrances and confirming Todd’s car wasn’t in the lot.

“What if someone sees us?”

“What are they going to see?” he retorted.

She supposed from a distance the car did blend in. Thanks to heavily tinted windows, it was unlikely anyone could see inside. Tilting the vents to try to get a bit more air to blow in her direction, Kelsey admitted, “This is a bit more boring than I expected.”

“Boring is good,” Connor insisted. Despite his words, he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel in an impatient rhythm, clearly ready for action.

“I’m surprised Emily didn’t tell me more about your job.”

“Why would she?”

“Because to anyone not sitting in this car, being a P.I. sounds exciting.” When Connor stayed silent, she asked, “Do you like it?”

“Yeah. Most of the time.”

The tapping on the steering wheel increased like the sudden peaks on a lie detector, and Kelsey sensed he was telling her not what he thought she wanted to hear, but what he wanted to believe. Something had happened to change his mind about the job she suspected he’d once loved. “It must be difficult. Seeing so much of the darker side of life.”

“It can be. Sometimes human nature is dark, but at least my job is about discovering the truth.”

Was it only her imagination, or had he emphasized that pronoun? Subtly saying that while he pursued truth and justice, she—“You think my job is about telling lies?”

“Selling lies,” he clarified.

“I promise a beautiful wedding and give the bride and groom what they’re looking for. That’s not a lie.”

“Okay,” he conceded, “maybe not the beautiful wedding part, but the sentiment behind it? Happily-ever-after? Love of a lifetime? Till death do us part? Come on!”

“Not every marriage ends with the bride and groom riding off into the sunset. Real life comes with real problems, but if two people love each other, they work it out.”

He snorted. “Not from my side of the video camera, they don’t.”

Irritation crackled inside her like radio static—annoying, incessant and almost loud enough to drown out a vague and misplaced feeling of disillusionment. All these years, she’d heard about Connor and Emily as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, but the story of star-crossed lovers lost all meaning if one of the players didn’t believe in love.

And while Kelsey’s faith might have been shaken by what happened with Matt, she still longed for those happily-ever-after and love-of-a-lifetime dreams Connor cynically mocked.

“My aunt and uncle never believed you loved Emily,” she said, disappointed. “Everything you’ve said proves them right.”

“Your aunt and uncle weren’t right about me—no matter what they think.”

Dead certainty ricocheted in his voice, and Kelsey regretted the tack she’d taken. Too late to back down and far too curious about what made Connor tick, she pressed, “Either you believe in love or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways.”

“I just don’t want to see Emily get hurt. That’s why I’mhere.”

She opened her mouth, ready to push further, when Connor pulled the handle on the driver’s-side door. “I’ll be right back.”

Kelsey grabbed his arm. “Wait! Where are you going?”

“To check the rear lot. Todd might have pulled in back there while we’ve been watching the front.” With one foot already on the asphalt and refusing to meet her gaze, Connor seemed more interested in escaping her questions.

“I’m coming with you.” She scrambled to unlock the passenger door. When she sensed an oncoming protest, she said, “Partners, remember? You’re the one who dragged me along. You aren’t leaving me now.”

“Forget it! He’ll recognize you.”

“Todd knows what you look like, too,” she argued as she turned back toward him.

“Fine,” he bit out as he dropped back into the seat, “but there’s something you have to do first.”

Thanks to her questions, a noticeable tension vibrated through Connor, evident in his clenched jaw and the taut muscles in the arm he’d braced against the wheel. But the tension gradually changed, not easing, but instead focusing to a fine, definitive point—one that seemed wholly centered on her.

His intense gaze traveled over her hair, her face, her mouth…The gold flecks in his green eyes glowed, and Kelsey’s skin tingled as if warmed by his touch. Surely he wouldn’t try to kiss her. Not here, not now! Time raced by with each rapid beat of her heart, a single question echoing in her veins.

Why didn’t he kiss her? Right here, right now—

Her pulse pounded in her ears, drowning out the sound of passing traffic. The heat shimmering on her skin could put the mirage hovering above the asphalt to shame. Shifting his body in the driver’s seat, Connor eased closer. The scent of his aftershave, a clean fragrance that called to mind ocean breezes and sun-kissed sand, drew her in. Like waves rushing to the shore, helpless to resist the undeniable pull, she reached for him…

But instead of a roll on the beach, Kelsey crashed against the shoals, her pride battered against the rocks when Connor suddenly turned away. He twisted his upper body between the seats and reached into the back. “Here, take this.”

Kelsey stared dumbly at the baseball hat he held.

“See if you can cover your hair.”

Her hand was still raised in an attempt to reach out and capture a passion obviously only she felt. An admission of her willingness to make a fool of herself.

Kelsey jerked the hat from Connor, eager to grab hold of anything to save face. “Do you really think this will make a difference?”

“A huge one.” Almost reluctantly he added, “Your hair is unforgettable.”

But he’d forget all about her and her hair once Emily was a free woman again. Unforgettable. Yeah, right.

Kelsey didn’t realize she’d spoken the words until Connor murmured, “It’s the kind of hair a man fantasizes about. Trust me.”

But she couldn’t. She’d nearly made a fool of herself seconds ago, and in case she ever forgot, she had the living, breathing epitome of Connor’s perfect woman as her cousin. Kelsey couldn’t compare; she never had.

Jerking back toward the door to put as much room as possible between them, she shook back her hair and pulled it away from her face with sharp, almost painful movements. Unable to hide behind her long locks, she felt exposed, vulnerable. Even more so when Connor’s gaze remained locked on her features.

“How’s that?” she asked, as she twisted her hair into a bun and shoved the bright red Diamondbacks cap into place. When Connor continued to stare, Kelsey fisted her hands in her lap to keep from yanking off the ridiculous hat. Finally, she demanded, “What?”

Shaking his head, Connor seemed to snap out of his stupor. “I hadn’t realized how much you look like Emily.”

His words hit like a punch in the stomach. Look like Emily? Not a chance. She’d seen the disappointment in the Wilsons’ faces when they first saw her. If Emily and Aileen were beautiful Barbie dolls, then Kelsey was clearly supposed to be Skipper, a younger, blonder version. But she looked nothing like her cousins, a point driven home at every Wilson function, with every meeting of their friends and associates. The surprise—if not flat-out disbelief—when Kelsey was introduced as one of the Wilsons.

I hope they had her DNA tested, Kelsey had heard one uninformed, high-society snob whisper. It wouldn’t surprise me if that girl ended up being a con artist out for the family fortune.

Kelsey had struggled to hold her head high and hold back the tears when she’d wanted to lash out at the woman. She was every bit her mother’s daughter, not her father’s, and inside she was as much a Wilson as Gordon, Aileen and Emily. But outside—where it counted—she couldn’t be more different.

“Give me a break!” She tried to laugh off the remark, but the fake sound stuck in her throat. “Emily and I look nothing alike! She’s tall and thin and blond and—beautiful!”

Her voice broke on the last word, and Kelsey had never been so close to hitting anyone. Giving in to the impulse, she socked Connor in the shoulder. She had a quick impression of dense muscle and bone, but he caught her hand before she could fool herself into thinking she could do more damage.

“Hey!” A quick tug of her arm had her falling against him. “So are you!”

“Tall? Blond?” Kelsey shot back sarcastically.

“Beautiful!” he retorted.

“But I’m not—”

“Not Emily?” he interjected softly. He brushed an escaping strand of hair—her unforgettable hair—back from her face, and the touch she’d only imagined became reality as he traced his index finger over her eyebrow, across her cheekbone, and skimmed the corner of her mouth. Heat and hunger combined with a tenderness that snuck beneath her defenses. “There’s more than one ideal for beauty, Kelsey.”

Still pressed against his muscular chest, she knew Connor was the epitome of masculine beauty for her, and she had the devastating feeling that would never change, even years from now. He was the best of the best, and she was a long shot, the dark horse.

“Stop it,” she whispered furiously.

“You don’t have to be Emily. You can just be yourself.”

The deep murmur of his voice reached inside and touched that vulnerable place, but this time instead of opening old wounds, his words offered a healing balm. And meeting his gaze, Kelsey realized he understood her vulnerability in a way no one else could because he’d felt the same way. He’d never been good enough to date the daughter of the wealthy Wilsons, and she had never felt good enough to be one of the wealthy Wilsons.

“Connor…” Just one word, his name spoken in a hushed whisper, broke the connection. He blinked, or maybe Kelsey did, because when she looked again, his sexy smile was back in place, all sense of vulnerability gone. “Except for right now. Right now you have to be someone Todd won’t recognize.”

“Right.” Kelsey pulled back, and Connor let her go. She might not have a sexy smile to hide behind, but she could be businesslike and professional…or as businesslike and professional as a wedding coordinator spying on a future groom could be.

“Come on,” she muttered as she tugged the brim lower. She didn’t know if she’d need the hat to hide her identity from Todd, but maybe she could use it to hide her emotions from Connor. “Let’s do this.”

She climbed from the car and was headed straight for the building by the time Connor caught up with her. Grabbing her hand, he said, “This way.”

With Connor leading the way, they walked half a block before crossing the street and doubling back behind Todd’s building. But the lot was empty except for some abandoned crates and an overflowing Dumpster.